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What is the ruling on benefiting from the housing allowance provided by the Ministry of Health, which requires presenting a rental contract not exceeding 50,0 [currency unit] in order to be granted, when living in the father's house? Is it permissible to present an unauthentic rental contract, or to acquire a house or land through the bank's ijara system, or to rent a house for 50,0 and sublet it, or to rent the father's house with a contract that includes appliances and services, taking into account the fear of delay in payment by the employer?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Renting a house and then subletting it, or renting a parent's house for dwelling, is considered a fraudulent way to obtain a housing allowance without entitlement, and it is Islamically prohibited. As for Ijara Muntahia Bil Tamleek (lease-to-own), there is no harm in it if it adheres to Islamic guidelines, and there is no trickery involved concerning the housing allowance, as the contract is essentially a lease. If you truly rent a house with a genuine lease, there is no harm in receiving a housing allowance from the Ministry. One must avoid trickery, forgery, and deception, for Allah Almighty says: "And avoid false statement," and "O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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